A familiar cast, though with less room to shine, and a story with familiar themes (rebellion, revolution, liberation).

Overall, a pretty competent spin-off title, but definitely not for everyone. The story doesn't really grip you until you're in the latter half of the game and you start to unravel the mystery behind the new characters, but I did enjoy the gameplay. It's like a puzzle game since stages feature moving parts like elevators and such, and these levels of elevation play into the combat. As for Personas in this game, they now have debuffs and effects for every element, such as wind launching enemies across the stage, which can be used to combo with another party member, giving you another consecutive turn. The point being you are always trying to chain attacks together between your party, then lining them up in a triangle formation for an all out attack. They made it so everyone can equip a sub persona instead of the main character having the wild card ability from the main game.

That's the core gameplay loop, and there's even unique boss battles thrown in. I think the new characters are actually pretty likeable too, and the final ending scene between them left me feeling satisfied.

So, should you play it? If you really want more Persona 5, sure, but otherwise I'd say wait for it to go on sale.